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Flowers Winery , Alexander Valley Vineyards and Seghesio Vineyards were our tastings for today. Since you shouldn’t drink wine on an empty stomach we had to get pastries and lattes at Quail and Condor. Today we brought them back to eat outside at our AirBnB. It’s such a beautiful, peaceful way to start the morning. We found another favorite pastry – Kouign Amman. It’s like a sweet, caramel lay croissant -subtlety sweet, just a little crunchy. I am not explaining it very well! Trust me when I say it was delicious.

Flowers was a beautiful winery. Our tasting was outside under a big shade tree and umbrellas. Although it was in the 90’s, the cool breeze and shade made it a perfect temperature. Our tasting was paired with small bites that were delicious. Two of them really enchanted the wine and the 3rd one was yummy but didn’t make the wine better or worse.

Driving through California wine country is one of my favorite places. Nothing beats the back roads, with vineyards on either side and a canopy of trees overhead. We have fun driving past the signs for tasting rooms, wineries or vineyards and recognizing familiar names of wines we’ve had, or ones we want to try.

Our tasting at Alexander Valley was the old-fashioned tasting at the wine bar. We like their cab sav from Total Wine so wanted to try some their reserve wines.

Our last tasting was out on another beautiful patio. All of the outdoors seating areas may be a result of COVID and the need to socially distance. Whatever the reason, it has been a fun and relaxing way to taste wine and the weather has been spectacular. (FYI… we are making good use of the spit buckets, in case anyone was wondering )

Almost forget… we stopped at Coppola . Not for the wine or food. We just walked around to see the movie memorabilia

Today was the day we were looking forward to the most. It did not disappoint!

Quail and Condor was another recommendation from our Air BnB host. She said a few different times that we should not leave without trying their pastries – the best croissants and pastries outside of Paris. The store front is nothing spectacular – in fact it looks like a hole in the wall but once inside everything looks and smells amazing. We had a hard time choosing but decided we would come back every morning. Today we chose an almond croissant and a ham & Gruyère cheese croissant. Both were delicious, but I am going to dream about the almond croissant! (100x better than Trung bakery in St. Paul and theirs is pretty good!) Now I don’t know if I should order that again tomorrow or try something new.

Our 1st tasting of the day was at Kenwood. We belong to their wine club and were looking to try some different wines to customize our shipments. One of our all time favorites was their 2018 Barn Chardonnay. One of the wines we tried was the 2019 Barn Chardonnay. It was excellent but not quite as good as the 2018. Turns out they had free shipping on wine purchased during a tasting. Also turns out they found the last remaining 7 bottles of 2018 Barn Chardonnay. Guess who’s getting a shipment of Kenwood!

We’ve been wanting to go to Ledson since we joined their Wine Club years ago. It was spectacular! We had our tasting in a private outdoor patio overlooking the vineyard and mountains. The weather was perfect – sunny and 78 degrees. Ryan, our host, was fun and informative and joined us in drinking most of the wine we sampled. He looked over the wines we’ve ordered in the past and created a tasting based on what he thought our palate was. He created the perfect tasting. We loved almost everything. We were even able to try some wines not normally available (I know he probably says that to everyone!) However, yesterday, Steve Ledson had a tasting for some VIPs so he opened some special wines that we were also able to try because they were left over. Since Jon and I shared, we tried 11 different wines. We did not think we liked their whites but the ones Ryan chose for us were yummy. And as always their reds are amazing. There is also a Ledson shipment in our future including some of the VIP wine we tried.

We ended the evening at Russian River Brewing – thank you Jason and Erin! It had a wonderful outdoor patio and yummy food. We had charcuterie boards for the past 2 days so it was great to have some “real” food.

We sat on the tarmac waiting for clearance to take off for over an hour! Apparently part of the air traffic control system was out across the country which meant flight paths needed to be entered manually and in case of error, extra space was needed in the sky between planes. All that took time and didn’t instill a lot of confidence 😬 Thankfully we didn’t have anything planned until 2:00 and once we were in the air it was smooth sailing.

Our 2:00 stop was a winery called Trombetta. It came highly recommended from our AirBnB host and wine-Jason. The tasting took place at the outdoor kitchen at the home of Ricky, one of the owners. We spent 2 hours drinking her wine and eating her food. The wine was great but to be honest it is the food that I will remember. It was outstanding! Cantaloupe with prosciutto and pistachio pesto, pork belly, duck confit, salami – all homemade! Plus wonderful dried pear, Sicilian olives and local cheese. She even told me a wonderful Italian cookbook to buy (Her parents are from Italy).

Our Airbnb is a wonderful California home. It’s small by Minnesota standards, about 700 sq ft. According to Zillow it’s worth $909,000. No joke! It sold only a few years ago for a little less than that. It has an amazing outdoor space with parenthood lights, a grilling area and an outdoor movie area.

We ended the night by walking to one of the top 10 tapas bars in the country – Bravas. It’s in Healdsburg, a 10 minutes walk from our AirBnb. Taking Sandy and Jim’s advice, we opted for cocktails instead of more wine. We choose three small plates, which were wonderful but left no room for the ice cream we passed on the walk back to our Air Bnb, Healdsburg is a cute little town – like Stillwater only it’s centered around a square instead of Main Street.

It’s hard to leave the place we are staying. The views are amazing – we’ve seen whales everyday. The ocean breeze is tantalizing – it does not have air conditioning and we wouldn’t use it even if it did. They put tropical flowers in every room and left us fresh fruit from their trees. It would’ve been easy to stay here all day but there were a few things we wanted to do.

Yesterday Jason and Erin each booked a flight with Maui Hang Gliding. They saw waterfalls from the air and the ocean was so clear they even saw whales.

We packed a lunch and spent the afternoon at Hamoa Beach. It’s the calmest beach in Hana.

So far the sunrises have been incredible. The best part is we’ve either watched them from bed or if we feel ambitious, our lanai.

Today we went to Haleakala National Park – not the top of the volcano. The part of the park that’s beyond Hana. Pools of ‘Ohe’o was our first hike. Not very long and probably more spectacular when the pools have more water but they are experiencing a drought here in the rain forest. The water from the pools empties into the ocean across a black sand beach.

Our second hike was 4 miles round trip, uphill mostly the entire way. The payoff at the end was a 400 ft waterfall! A good portion of the hike was through a bamboo forest. When the wind blows through the bamboo it makes the coolest sound. It’s loud. Erin thought it sounded like it was hailing.

Tomorrow we move to another part of the island so I thought I’d recap the first part of our trip.

Since our condo/townhouse has all the beach gear you could want, we loaded the car with beach chairs, beach umbrella, cooler packed with lunch and our snorkel gear. We headed to turtle town or Maluaka Beach. It’s more of a beach that locals go to since it isn’t in front of a big hotel. We found plenty of sand to claim as our own for the day. This time we all saw turtles!

Before heading back to our hotel we drove to the end of the road, if you could call it that. It was a partially paved road through lava fields. It looked like a farmer had tilled the soil and was ready to plant. It was definitely not soil. The end was La Perouse Bay, a beautiful bay you are not allowed to swim in. It’s a protected wildlife preserve where dolphins sleep.

Yesterday morning we went whale watching in an outrigger canoe. It was fantastic. It holds 6 people, including the guide, since it’s hard to fill that last slot we had the canoe to ourselves. We saw too many whales to count. They breeched, they tail slapped and they dove. We heard them blow. One got close enough that we could see some “battle scars” on his tail. We spent 3 hours on a very calm Pacific Ocean. Highly recommend!

Today Jon and I had a massage overlooking the ocean while Jason and Erin went to Po’olenalena Beach. Sam, our outrigger canoe guide told us there were a lot of turtles and good snorkeling there. They saw turtles! And I had the best massage I’ve ever had.

Tomorrow we drive the Road to Hana. We found a cottage to spend the next 3 nights in Hana. It is off the grid – it only has solar power.

We might not come home! Although we’d need to find new jobs because Jon and Jason can work from home but that home cannot be in Hawaii. HR specifically calls out Hawaii as a place they cannot work – nobody seems to know why.

So far our daily routine has been to walk along the beach up to Honolulu Coffee to enjoy their Hawaiian Latte – a wonderful coconut and macadamia nut concoction. Sip while staring at the ocean, with a cool breeze in our hair. It’s been sunny blue skies with temps in the 80’s. You forget just how blue the sky can be. Just how warm the sun can be.

We follow this with some time at the beach or cabanas with a 180 degree view of the ocean. Yesterday we added a trip to the farmer’s market to load up on tropical fruit – strawberry papaya, Maui gold pineapples and avocados the size of your head!

Today we added snorkeling at Ulua beach, the beach you can see from our condo. Jason and Erin saw a sea turtle! We all heard the whale songs while we were underwater – super cool! Plus we saw the spout and then the breech. We can’t wait til Friday when we go out whale watching in an outrigger canoe.

We thought about going up to Haleakala for sunrise – way too early. Then thought about sunset but we’ve watched beautiful ones right from Ulua beach. Seemed like like too much driving so tonight we decided to watch sunset from Morimoto, a restaurant at the hotel just up the beach . I made reservations before Christmas. It did not disappoint. Everything was yummy.

Our last full day in Portland and we were headed out of town. For many reasons. The biggest one was 30 minutes away, Multnomah Falls. It’s in the Columbia River Gorge along with other waterfalls and scenic vistas. It is the most famous. I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of it, whether you knew where or what it was called, it probably looks familiar. We needed a timed reservation because of the pandemic but had no problem securing one on a Tuesday. We also arrived early enough to avoid the crowds – makes for easier photos, too.

It started to rain which makes it better for photos but not as nice to hike. We decided to try our luck and head to Mount Hood. We were already part of the way there and the weather was supposed to clear. Off we went knowing it might be a bust if the weather didn’t cooperate. Our motto… we’ll see what we see. The drive was pretty, through the Oregon forest. The forest is mainly huge 100-200 ft Douglas Firs. We caught glimpses of Mount Hood through the trees. We even pulled off at a winter recreation site (I think that’s what they mean by ski slope) for a better view. We can say we actually saw the top! But by the time we got to Government Camp (it’s the name of a town) near the base, the rain had moved in rather than out. It was a ski town and had some awesome houses tucked in the woods up the slopes. I wonder what people call their second home here… cabins like we do or maybe chalets 🤷🏽‍♀️ It was a humble little town. Nothing like you see in Colorado.

We are ready to come home. The heat wave, pandemic and smoke have definitely affected this trip. We still had a great time but had to be willing to change our plans at a moments notice. Some changes were fantastic, others not so much. All in all, it was great to explore this part of the country. Plus I got to check another state off my list!

Before we left, people told us we should watch Portlandia. We never did, but apparently Portland has it’s own vibe. Here’s what we noticed:

• They wear socks with their sandals here. While we were eating lunch at a street-side deli we overheard a guy say, “I only have one pair of pink socks and I had to save it to wear with my pink shirt.” And yes he was wearing the pink shirt and pink socks with his sandals, so apparently it’s a planned thing.
• They dress any which way they want, confidently! See above.
• Guys have really embraced the murse. (man purse) Again with confidence!
• It’s also the headquarters of Doc Marten and Keen sandals. Apparently both of these go with everything.
• Two things I didn’t know – it’s also where Columbia Sportswear and Pendleton are from.
• Most of their roads and bridges, especially in the Columbia River Gorge, but all over, look like they were built right after World War 2. They are that old! Maybe that’s an effect of not having any revenue from sales tax?!
• It’s very difficult to find Oregon wines in Portland. Most restaurants would rather feature Italian wines even though the Williamette Valley produces some of the best Pinot Noirs in the world. Even beating our Burgundy, France in many wine competitions.
• Toddy we saw a guy walking down the street with angel wings hanging off a hanger. He looked like he could’ve attached them to his back and everything would’ve worked.
• They have an incredible amount of homeless people.
• This state has a diversity like no other – ocean beaches and vistas, incredible wine, famous breweries, headquarters to iconic businesses, waterfalls twice as high as the Statue of Liberty and famous mountains.

Since we’ve been here, maybe we should watch Portlandia once we get home. Perhaps we’ll appreciate the humor now.

One final day in McMinnville, we sat at the Flag and Fire coffee shop planning our day before driving to Portland. Wouldn’t you know it, it was a beautiful sunny day (we’ve had lots of those) and the temperature was going to be 84 degrees. We haven’t had any of those! Some of the wineries we went to had beautiful outdoor patios, one even had a secret garden. We would’ve loved to sip a glass of wine on one of those. It wasn’t meant to be. It was simply too hot.

Our hotel is right downtown Portland, within walking distance to many of the breweries, coffee shops and stores. The first store we went to was Powell Books. It’s huge!!! It covers an entire city block and has a floor devoted to each section – fiction, romance, sci-if, comics, children’s books… They label the floors by color, not dewy decimal system. I’m not sure why. 🤷🏽‍♀️ We decided to go our separate ways and meet in the lobby in 1 hour. We each could’ve spent a lot more time!

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While enjoying a local beer at one of the many breweries, the bar tender started talking about Washington Park. Similar to New York’s Central Park only at the top of the hill in Portland. You can see 7 mountains front the top. Plus, apparently, they have a world famous rose garden. He convinced us to “venture forth” and see it. So we hopped in an Uber (Jon is sick of driving!) and ventured forth. I can’t explain just how beautiful it was. Our timing was prefect. It felt like every single rose was in bloom and the smell was incredible. I will remember that wonderful smell for a long time.

It was really made up of more than one garden. After all you need many gardens to contain over 10,000 rose bushes. They also have a Japanese Garden that’s supposed one of the best outside of Japan. Sadly we got there too late to walk through that one.

We have a big day planned for tomorrow, our last full day of vacation. We planned it from the rooftop patio of our hotel. It was finally cool enough to enjoy such things. I hope the weather cooperates. It’s only supposed to be in the low 70’s but I’d also really like more sunny blue skies.

Each morning we walk along 3rd Street which in considered the historic downtown area. We aren’t sure if it’s the heat wave, COVID, lack of staff or normal BC hours (Before Covid) but most of the stores close at 4 or 5:00. We aren’t usually back by then so we haven’t had a chance to go inside. We thought about getting back to do some shopping today, but after window shopping for the past 4 days, there wasn’t anything that caught our eyes. Well maybe the adorable vegetable t-shirt for Ellie or Remi but would anyone really appreciate that as much as I would ?!

Our walk back always includes a detour to Flag and Fire. A cute and delicious coffee shop in the middle of the Granary – a block off 3rd Street, that’s full of tasting rooms. Even though it’s been really hot in the afternoon it’s cool in the morning. We’ve had a chance to sit outside and enjoy our coffee while we plan our day. Yesterday was so cool I really wanted my sweatshirt.

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Believe it or not you can get tired of tasting wine! For the most part we really only did one tasting before lunch and one after. Most places let us split the tasting so we probably had 1/2 to 1 glass in the morning and 1/2 to 1 glass in the afternoon. We were most definitely sober and never had to “sober up” before we drove to our next stop. So we weren’t drinking a ton of wine each day but your taste buds can still get tired.

A number of people told us about a winery called Violin. Mindy, at the very 1st winery we went to, told us it was her favorite when she wasn’t drinking her own wine. After another person told us something similar we decided to check it out. He’s a small wine producer so his tasting room isn’t open unless you call to make an appointment. He also does all the tastings himself. Today it was our one and only tasting. Will spent about 2 hours taking to us as he poured his wines. It was a delightful way to end our wine tasting and I forgot all about being tired of it! We had a few bottles shipped home so we are excited to share it with you.

Just down the road was the Brigittine Monastery. They live the contemplative life and “by the labor of their hands” support their community by making artisan chocolates. My taste buds could use a break from all that wine! The setting was serene and peaceful. A sign as we got out of our car reminded us to keep the quiet. We had to ring the bell and wait patiently for someone to let us into a small room full of truffles. We made our selections and quietly left the way we came. Although we might be excited to share, it’s way too hot for them to make it home and more importantly, they are way too delicious.

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We checked an empty box when we flew out here. It was a wine packing box that we hoped to fill with 6 bottles to take back home. We bought two from Left Coast Winery and needed to fill it with four more. The best place in the area to buy wine is the grocery store (every place in the world except Minnesota). It was fun to look through all the wine – some places we had been, some places we drove right by and some we wanted to try and just ran out of time. We had a hard time choosing just four but I’m excited to try them when we get back home.

The Willamette Valley has over 700 wineries. We went to 11. You’ve heard of the six degrees of separation, right? Our experience in wine country was far less than that.

• On a whim we went to Flanauer Winery because our AirBnB wasn’t ready. We met Mindy and Vic.
• Vic originally planted the vines at Bethel Heights back in the 70’s.
• We went to Bethel Heights because I really liked a bottle of their Pinot Noir that we had before we left. Our wine concierge happened to mention that to Ben Casteel, the wine maker, so he stopped by to talk with us.
• Will Hamilton, the winemaker at Violin, buys grapes from Bethel Heights and tells us that…
• Mindy (from Flaneur) used to be married to Ben Casteel.
• We went to a wine bar last night on 3rd Street where we shared a wine flight. Out of wines from over 700 wineries, Violin was one of the wines in our flight.

Did you know they grow hazelnuts in Oregon? I didn’t! But all the signs around here tell me they are quite famous for it. We’ve seen these hazelnut orchards all over the place so I don’t think they’re lying. But I do wonder why the ground beneath the trees is always so immaculate. Every. Single. Orchard.

Tomorrow we are driving to Portland before heading home on Wednesday. The heat wave is supposed to break tonight so hopefully it will make walking around Portland more enjoyable. 🤞🏼